Tears of Blood
by Midnight'ssong22
Summary: When returning home from a mission one day Naruto never expected what he found in his path. Who knew a C-ranked mission could change Naruto's life forever? NOT NaruSasu
1. Returning

**Tears of Blood**

**By: Midnightssong22**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**Chapter 1: ****Returning**

_"I simply can't build my hopes on a foundation of confusion, misery and death ... I think peace and tranquility will return again." –Anne Frank_

-O-

It started out as an ordinary mission.

Naruto, being the last ninja without a job that day, was given the C-ranked mission to deliver herbs to a nearby village. Sulkily he accepted and quickly made his way to the quiet town and gave the herbs to the town's chief medical nin.

"Here's the herbs you asked for," he mumbled, feeling dejected at having to resort to being a delivery boy.

"Thank you, young man. If you would like, you can stay here in the village for the night, it's getting pretty late out." She replied, but Naruto politely declined, wanting to exit the small village as fast as he could.

Who knew that such a small decision could change his life forever?

-O-

Meanwhile a small family traveling to the same village Naruto was in, got the surprise of their life. A young man of at least age 16 was lying face down in the dirt, covered in blood.

"Is he dead?" asked one girl quietly clinging to the back of her mother's skirt.

"Let's see," Said her father, slowly approaching the boy. He turned him over and examined the wounds more closely. His clothes were torn and covered in blood and he had cuts and bruises all over his body. His eyes seemed to be bleeding. But the boy seemed to still be shallowly breathing.

"Hey, are you awake? What happened to you boy?" asked the man quietly.

The boy's eyes flickered and suddenly opened showing a swirl of red and black. The man, never seeing such a thing before, jumped up in haste, yelling to his family to leave immediately. Saying that the boy was some sort of demon.

With that they abandoned the boy with strange eyes and raven-black hair, the boy who was once again slipping into unconsciousness.

-O-

After leaving the small village behind, Naruto soon regretted not excepting the kind medical ninja's offer. The sun was already setting and it would soon be dark. Of course, he had also forgotten to ask for matches at the village and soon would be traveling only by moonlight.

After a few hours out, he heard the stomping of running feet headed his way. His hand felt for a Kunai knife in his belt but stopped when he saw a small girl run up the road towards him.

He quickly made out the sight of a man and women running after her. They came to a stop when they got to him.

"Your not gonna want to go that way boy!" He gasped out, catching his breath.

"Why not?" asked Naruto curiously.

"There's a demon back there!" yells the little girl clutching onto her mom.

"Oh really? And what did this demon look like?" asked Naruto, thinking they'd had some sort of delusion, possibly even a genjutsu.

"He looked like a regular 16-year-old boy, but when we were examining his wounds he opened his eyes and they were red and black swirled together!" explained the father in a rush.

"Red and black?" asked Naruto, his eyes widening, "What else did you see?"

"Well, he was wounded and unconscious when we found him. He had jet-black hair and…," replied the mother but Naruto was already running down the path wondering if it really could be him.

'_Could it really be you? Sasuke…' _Thought Naruto as he ran even faster at the thought of seeing his old friend again.

In seconds he was at the sight of where the family had seen him, but all he found was a pool of blood.

"Where are you? Sasuke!" He yelled into the trees.

-O-

After being thrown down on the ground by that man he'd seen, Sasuke's killer headache flared up once again.

"I'm gonna die out here. After everything that's happened, I'm gonna die out here like a dog." He tried to sit up but the throbbing in his head just got worse and he was forced back down.

He pulled out the small bottle of medicine Karin had given him to help stop pain and drank it all.

'_Who would of thought I'd need it so soon, and for something as serious as this,' _he thought bitterly, remembering the scene of when he'd left his team Hebi behind.

**Flashback**

"_Must you go, Sasuke?" Karin asked, clinging onto him._

"_Yes, I must," He answered simply, pushing her off._

"_We'll miss you, fearless leader," said Suigetsu sarcastically, giving him a punch on the shoulder._

"_Couldn't we go with you? We could help you," asks Juugo quietly, his face downcast._

"_I'm sorry, I have to do this alone. Maybe when I've finally gotten my revenge, I'll see you all again," Sasuke replies, realizing this parting was a lot different to the one he'd given to his friends in Konoha._

'Not that they would understand,' _he thought bitterly._

"_At least take this," said Karin taking a small bottle out of her pack. Sasuke took it from her and examined it._

"_What is it?"_

"_It's a powerful painkiller. I didn't have enough time to make you something to heal wounds with, but this will help with pain." She explained as he put it into his belt._

"_Thanks, but do you really think I'd get hurt that easily?" he asked jokingly. _

"_Who knows with you?" asked Suigetsu laughing._

**End of Flashback**

'_If only he knew,' _Sasuke thought as the painkiller started working throughout his body. He slowly stood up, silently cursing at his own stupidity in getting the injuries in the first place.

He forced himself to walk into the trees trying to get off the road.

"In case another family comes along and tries to 'help' me again," He mumbles to himself.

The world around him started to spin again as he lost even more blood from the wounds on his chest, which was why he didn't see the ledge that sent him tumbling down the slope… and the reason why he didn't get back up again.

-O-

Naruto gasped at the sight of the blood, turning dark in the fading light, but soon took in his surroundings. It almost seemed that whoever it was had gone into the forest by the looks of a couple of branches bent back to make a slight path.

"I actually really hope it's not you, Sasuke," he whispered following the trail of blood into the trees.

After a few yards the trail came to an abrupt stop close to a small ledge. Naruto edged closer and looked down to the bottom of the slope. What he saw almost made his heart stop. There was a figure at the bottom. A figure covered in blood that he recognized in the dying light. The figure of his rival and best friend: Sasuke Uchiha.

He ran down the slope to his friend tears welling up in his eyes. He got to the bottom in no time and sat down next to him. He took off his jacket and propped up Sasuke's head with it. He took off his pack and thanked God that Sakura had told him to take his first aid kit even though he'd thought it was unnecessary.

'_How wrong I was' _He thought as he took off Sasuke's shirt and tended to the Uchiha's wounds.

He had two long and deep gashes across his chest that were still bleeding and looked to have been caused by a sword. He had bruises and cuts all over his face and body and he was coughing up blood. His eyes even seemed to be bleeding. Naruto tried to put healing salve onto him and bind his wounds, but Sasuke was still unconscious and barely breathing.

"Hang in there, Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed, tears falling freely now onto Sasuke's face, "You can't die on me! I promised I'd take you back to Konoha! So don't you dare die!"

"N-Naruto…" Sasuke whispered in his sleep.

"Your going to be ok, Sasuke, I'm not gonna let you die. Your not gonna die," Naruto babbled, trying to reassure not only Sasuke but himself.

-O-

Naruto didn't know how much time passed as he waited for Sasuke to wake up. It could have been a couple hours or a couple days. All he remembered was that at some point he had set up a camp and moved Sasuke inside a small tent. He remembered constantly tending to his wounds and forcing him to drink water. He remembered that he had every once in a while fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion, but only for a couple minutes and would soon be back up and about taking care of Sasuke.

So when Sasuke finally opened his eyes Naruto almost passed out from exhaustion and relief.

"Where am I?" he whispered, glancing around at his surroundings. But Naruto was so happy to see Sasuke awake and alive, the question didn't even register as he sat stunned with a goofy smile on his face.

"Naruto?" asked Sasuke as he stared at the blonde. At the sound of his name Naruto snapped out of his stupor.

"Sasuke! You're all right! You're ok! I thought you weren't gonna make it! Are you ok now? What happened? Are you in pain? How'd you end up here? Were you attacked?" asked Naruto without giving him enough time to answer.

Sasuke meanwhile was trying to comprehend all of what the blonde was saying. With the combination of his headache and Naruto's consistent chatter he could hardly think.

"Will you shut up for a second idiot?" he snapped.

"Oh, sorry," Naruto mumbled, suddenly remembering that the last time they'd seen each other Sasuke had seemed to hate him.

"I just need to think for a second," Sasuke replied, not meaning to hurt the blonde's feelings. With that he tried to sit up but was once again forced to lie back down when the pain from his wounds was too much to handle.

"Here, drink this," said Naruto holding out a blue container filled with some kind of liquid.

"What…" started Sasuke.

"It should help stop the pain and help heal your wounds faster. I couldn't give it to you while you were unconscious or you may not of actually swallowed it," Naruto explained.

"Oh, thanks."

"You shouldn't thank me Sakura gave it to me for emergencies. She told me to take it with me everywhere, just in case."

"Hn." Sasuke replied with his nonexistent word, drinking the contents of the small vile.

They sat in silence, neither knowing what to say. In the end Naruto took out a blanket from his pack, curled up, and went to sleep.

Sasuke watched the steady breathing of his old teammate, letting his mind wander into old memories…

-O-

_"Dreams are like stars...you may never touch them, but if you follow them they will lead you to your destiny." –Anonymous _

**End of Chapter**

Alright, this is not only the first chapter of this story but also the first story I've written so far. Please read and review. Thanks!


	2. Memories

**Chapter 2: Memories**

"_Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose." –Kevin Arnold_

-O-

Thinking back, Sasuke's first thought was when he'd left Konoha three years ago. He had left everyone and everything behind without a second thought. Naruto had tried so hard to stop him at Final Valley, but had failed. He remembered when at the beginning of their battle he had immediately come to the conclusion to kill Naruto, so that he could obtain even more power to destroy his brother.

And yet, he couldn't.

At the end, as he looked down on Naruto's unconscious body, he found he couldn't kill his best friend. It was impossible. That day, he made the vow to obtain power differently from his brother.

Even when he met Naruto again at Orochimaru's Hideout and told him he'd spared him on a whim and was going to finish him then, he was lying. Even if Orochimaru hadn't stopped him, it would not have been a fatal blow.

Now he'd been saved by the blonde and he had to hand it to him, he sure was determined when it came to returning him to Konoha.

At first he had thought sparing Naruto was a weakness, now he wasn't so sure.

-O-

The next morning, Naruto woke up to the sound of movement in the trees outside of the small campsite. Sasuke was still asleep, recovering from his wounds.

"Who's there?" asked Naruto grabbing hold of a kunai knife. He stood up but in the next instant a barrage of senbon came hurtling out of the trees. Naruto was able to dodge most of the onslaught but a couple of the senbon lodged itself into his arm.

"Kage no Bunshin! Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled, making a dozen clones to jump into the trees. In seconds Naruto found the culprit. A man dressed all in black, who had come out of the shadows.

"Who are you?" asked Naruto as his clones surrounded the man.

"Well since your going to die anyways, I suppose I can tell you. I'm an assassin sent by my master to kill off the last Uchiha… and anyone else who dares to get in my way."

"Are you the one who caused Sasuke's earlier injuries as well?" Naruto asked, his anger rising.

"No, that was one of my dear colleagues who was unfortunately killed by the boy. But his sacrifice won't be in vain. I will soon finish the job myself," said the assassin bringing out more senbon.

Naruto found himself remembering when he was in a similar situation a few years back when Team Seven had gone on their first big mission.

Their mission had been to give the bridge builder, Tazuna an escort to the country of Waves. While there, Sasuke and Naruto had gotten into a serious battle against a Kekkai Genkai user, Haku. The combination of his Ice Mirror Jutsu and senbon was almost too much for them. In the end Naruto had passed out, forcing Sasuke to fend for himself.

And when Haku sent senbon Naruto's way, Sasuke had taken the hits for him, even though it could of killed him.

This assassin was nothing compared to what Sasuke and him had dealt with in the past. And he was definitely not letting this guy anywhere near Sasuke.

The assassin, without hesitating, threw another round of senbon at him, hoping to catch him off guard and find the original Naruto amongst the clones. All of them hit their marks but none of the destroyed clones were the original.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," the assassin taunted glancing around for any sight of movement. A twig snapped behind him and he whirled around seeing a flash of orange.

"There you are!" he yelled hurtling more senbon into the trees.

"Think again!" Naruto shouted, as he and his clone came out of the shadows.

"Rasengan!" he yelled as the blue energy in his hand came into contact with the assassin. The assassin, who wasn't expecting such power, was thrown back into the trees and was rendered unconscious.

Jumping back down, Naruto shook Sasuke awake and told him what happened.

"We need to leave now!" Sasuke exclaimed trying to stand after Naruto finished his story.

"Why?" asked Naruto helping the black-haired shinobi stand.

"They never travel alone. We have to move before backup comes," Sasuke explains simply. With that they both start packing up the campsite. Naruto suddenly didn't feel so well and something kept bothering him about the assassin he'd faced.

'_Something's not right. Senbon aren't that dangerous to begin with. How did that assassin expect to finish Sasuke off so easily? Unless…" _Naruto thought as his vision started to blur.

"Poison…" Naruto whispers, falling unconscious.

-O-

Sasuke watched as Naruto fell to the ground, succumbed by the poison of the senbon. In an instant he analyzed the situation. Naruto had three senbon stuck in his arm, all three letting off a small portion of poison. What kind of poison, he wasn't sure, but definitely fast working.

In his condition he couldn't possibly move Naruto away from the site fast enough to avoid the assassins… but he wasn't about to leave Naruto there unconscious.

'_The only possible way to get out of here in time would be to use a transportation jutsu. It's the only thing I can handle right now but… I'll have to leave a lot of stuff behind.' _He thought, grabbing his pack and Naruto's.

With that Sasuke made the familiar hand signs and he and Naruto were transported away. Hopefully to somewhere where it'd be safe.

-O-

That was the first time in a long time that Naruto had been poisoned. That was also the first time it had affected him so bad. He was in a cold sweat and couldn't move. It felt as if a pressure was on his chest so that he couldn't breathe.

"_I-I refuse to die like this!" _He thought as he tried to get a grip on consciousness.

He remembered another time when he was poisoned, it was when Team Seven was attacked by two Chunnin on their way to the Wave country with Tazuna. When they attacked the team Naruto had been paralyzed with fear and Sasuke had to protect him.

Naruto still got a cut on his left hand that was infected by poison. Kakashi had told him that they would probably have to return to the village to get it looked at but Naruto refused, driving a kunai knife into his hand to release the poison and making a promise to protect the bridge builder no matter what.

'_How foolish I was. I could of died from blood loss if Kakashi hadn't stopped the bleeding'_ Naruto laughed to himself.

"You moron, you can't even dodge a couple senbon," muttered Sasuke somewhere above him.

"Sasuke?" Naruto whispered, finally opening his eyes.

"You know how hard it is to use a transportation jutsu while injured? Your lucky I didn't just leave you back there to get killed by those assassins."

"But you didn't." Naruto said with the same goofy smile on his face from before.

"Hn. Just get some rest, we're both going to need it if we want to get out of this forest."

"Alright," Naruto replied sleepily, easily falling back into unconsciousness.

-O-

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at the contents he found in Naruto's travel bag.

The dobe had his nightcap, an almost dead candle with no matches, an empty water bottle, blankets, an extra set of clothes, a note, packages of instant ramen, the first aid kit a few extra weapons and a picture. But a few things did catch his interest.

One was a note from Hinata Hyuga that seemed to have been read over and over again. It said:

_Dear Naruto, I know that I've always been shy around you and I'm not good at words but, I really like you Naruto and I just hope that you'll be careful in all your missions. I have no doubt that one day you will be Hokage. I believe in you Naruto, good luck. -Hinata_

"_Hm, always new she liked him,' _He thought packing the note back into the bag.

The second item that caught his interest didn't surprise him but it still tugged at his memories. It was the picture of team seven. The one where he and Naruto were placed on either side of Sakura while Kakashi had stood behind the three, placing his hands on top of his and Naruto's heads, smiling behind the mask.

He remembered that he and Naruto had been arguing yet again the moment it was taken. Sakura, who was past the point of playing referee, was smiling sweetly into the camera while Naruto was giving him the death glare. He himself had been glaring off into the distance, ignoring the dobe.

After placing the picture back Sasuke grabbed his pack and laid it onto his lap looking at the contents of his own bag. His pack consisted of his own first aid kit, a change of clothes, weapons of every kind, two full bottles of water, a small wooden flute and the same picture he had found in Naruto's pack.

When he had left, he had not meant to take it with him but somehow it had slipped into his pack. And he doubted he'd be the same if he hadn't of had it with him when he had gone to train with Orochimaru.

The reason wasn't one he was going to admit to lightly.

The first night he had slept at the hideout he was troubled by horrid nightmares and vomited countless times. The nightmares consisted of his family's murder and the only thing keeping him at the edge of sanity was the picture of his teammates. He didn't know how but the picture calmed him and as soon as he had the image in his head, he could sleep peacefully at night. The image was also the reason that he made the mental promise never to kill innocents.

Orochimaru had said that showing mercy to opponents was a weakness but he had never agreed to his logic.

'_If they are not the enemies I intend on destroying, their lives are not mine to take.' _He had said to Orochimaru whenever the subject had come up.

The other sentimental thing he kept was the small wooden flute he had made after a particularly difficult training session one day at the hideout. It was nothing special, just a simple pipe made out of a tree branch, but it had taken him a good hour to complete it with a kunai knife.

He had spent countless hours of free time playing the small flute in his room, and it never failed to calm him after an argument or an especially terrifying nightmare. It may have been simple but it gave off a beautiful sound.

Now, Sasuke took out the small flute again and examined its simplicity. He remembered when Suigetsu had found it while snooping in his pack once and had teased him about it endlessly for the entire day. Saying things like:

'_What's with the girly instrument, Sasuke? You can't actually play it can you? Are you sure your as strong as you think?'_

He remembered how he'd finally just stalked off to a nearby cave considering throwing the little flute away. In the end he just put it up to his lips and played it once again. He didn't even stop when Suigetsu came into the cave with him.

At the end of the tune neither teammate said anything but afterwards Suigetsu didn't bother Sasuke about it again, saying it made too pretty of a sound to be mocked.

So Sasuke decided it wouldn't hurt to play it now. He started with just soft scales but continued into the lullaby his mother had sung to him often when he was a small child. He didn't even notice when Naruto woke up and began listening to the melody intently.

As the last note rang out into the silence, Sasuke opened his eyes seeing that Naruto was staring at him. Getting ready for the dobe to say something about it, he readied himself with good comebacks but Naruto surprised him.

"That song is familiar. What is it?" he asked quietly.

"It's a lullaby my mother used to sing to me when I was little," Sasuke replied slowly.

"That's why it sounds familiar. I-I don't remember my parents that much but I think my parents might've sang it to me when I was little too. Will you… play it again?"

So with that, Sasuke began playing the song again, the sweet melody breaking the silence of the forest around them. This time when the tune ended, neither spoke, and both eventually fell asleep untroubled by nightmares.

Sasuke knew Naruto would most likely bring up the subject of returning to the village tomorrow, but right now he wasn't going to worry.

-O-

Meanwhile, five assassins were watching the two wounded ninja, contemplating just how the two should meet their untimely deaths.

-O-

"_If I die a violent death, as some fear and a few are plotting, I know that the violence will be in the thought and the action of the assassins, not in my dying." –Indira Gandhi_

**End of Chapter**

Hey! it's midnight'ssong22 here! I really want whoever reads this to Please review. I really want to know if you guys like or hate this so, please review. Thanks! (Also, I still do not own Naruto.)


	3. Survival

**Chapter 3: Survival**

_Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. – C. S. Lewis_

-O-

Sasuke was first to wake the next morning. Naruto, who was still recovering from the poison, was fast asleep. His own wounds were finally healed just enough to be able to journey on his own again. Now was his chance.

He had to admit that he hadn't been exactly himself the past few days and he couldn't allow the blonde to think that this meant he was returning to the village with him. There were things he still had to do, things that could ruin his chance of ever returning to the village. Or at least, not alive.

Ever since he had his conversation with Madara, he'd done a lot of thinking. His first thought after he'd heard Madara's story was to destroy the entire Konoha village for their crimes against the Uchiha Clan, but soon after he changed his plans. Although he still thought Konoha, as a whole, was halfway responsible, the real enemies were the council members and Danzo. They were the ones who deserved to die.

He knew he'd meet opposition if he tried to take any of the council members down, which was why he didn't trust anyone with his exact plans, not even his team Hebi. Naruto, if kept around any longer, would only complicate things.

So with that Sasuke took off, the wounds on his chest aching but not enough to slow him down. He was aware that five chakra presences were following him.

'_So we were followed, but it seems they've left Naruto alone. Well, this will be a good warm-up after all the time I spent recovering. This should be fun.' _He thought contemplating his next move.

-O-

Naruto wasn't surprised when he awoke to find Sasuke was gone, but it still ticked him off. Not only did this mean he had to find the black haired ninja but he also still had to convince him to come back to the village.

"This is just great," Naruto mumbled, "Kage no Bunshin! Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

And with that, nine copies and one original Naruto ran off into the trees, unaware of the danger that awaited them.

-O-

Sasuke was soon engaged in a battle against the five assassins. The assassins, underestimating the wounded Sasuke's strength, hadn't expected him to sense them so easily and were caught off-guard when he suddenly disappeared from their sight.

He had reappeared instantly behind them and had taken out the first of the assassins with a stroke of his katana. But the element of surprise was gone and he now had to rely on his own power that was already quickly diminishing.

"So, you aren't as helpless as we first thought," said one assassin, "no matter, in the end you'll die anyway so you might as well surrender now."

"Not on your life," Sasuke replied, revealing his sharingan and attacking again.

Building up his chakra, he created the hand signs that released his signature fire jutsu.

"Fire style, Fire Ball Jutsu!" he yelled, incapacitating two more of the assassins with the strength of his jutsu.

But the other two ninja, he was soon to realize, weren't going to be defeated so easily.

-O-

Meanwhile, back in Konoha, the remaining members of the original Team Seven were gathered in the Hokage's office, getting briefed for their newest mission.

"What do you mean Naruto's missing?" Sakura exclaimed.

"I mean, that Naruto was sent on a C-ranked mission to deliver herbs to a nearby town almost four days ago and hasn't returned yet. This mission at longest should have only taken him a couple days. Something's gone wrong and I'm sending you two and a couple others to go find him," Tsunade explained briefly.

"Do you think the Akatsuki's got their hands in this?" asked Kakashi when she finished.

"It's quite possible, so that's why I'm sending Team Kakashi to find him."

"So who else are you sending?" Sakura asked glancing at the door.

"Your teammates will be Yamato and Sai, I'm hoping that will be alright?"

"Yes."

"Good," Tsunade said standing and handing a small packet to Kakashi, "Now, all the information you need is in that file. Be careful and try to finish this quickly."

"Right," Kakashi and Sakura replied, leaving immediately to pack for their mission.

Exhausted, Tsunade sat back down and pulled out her stashed bottle of Sake.

"This is just what the doctor ordered," she mumbled pouring herself a glass and drinking heavily.

"Lady Tsunade?" asked Shizune's voice from behind the door.

"What is it, Shizune?" Tsunade sighed, stashing her precious Sake bottle once again under her desk.

"I was just wondering if it was wise of you to send Kakashi and Sakura on that mission to look for Naruto? I mean, we've both heard the rumors," Shizune replied, walking into the office.

"I know Shizune, that's why I sent them."

"What? But if the rumors are true, and Sasuke is in the area, who knows what might happen?" Shizune exclaimed.

"That's exactly right, we don't know what'll happen. Which is why I'm giving them the chance to figure out what to do with this opportunity I've given them. While they search for Naruto they might run into Sasuke. If that happens, they'll be given another chance to bring him back here. Anyways, it's most likely that the rumors aren't true, so there's nothing you need to worry about, Shizune."

"If you say so," she replied, heading for the door, "I hope your right, Lady Tsunade."

With one more glance at the fifth Hokage, Shizune left the room, wondering how Sakura would handle another meeting with Sasuke.

At the same moment Tsunade wondered if she'd ever have enough peace to drink her precious Sake.

-O-

'_At this rate I'll never find him!'_ Naruto thought as he continually searched for any sign of his former teammate among the trees.

After searching for ten minutes he would of thought he could've at least found Sasuke's trail by now. But there was no sign of the Uchiha anywhere.

Not knowing what else to do Naruto approached the sound of a river nearby and sat down. Stopping for a quick rest he thought about where Sasuke could possibly be headed. From the rumors he'd heard back home, Sasuke's older brother Itachi had finally been defeated. So why hadn't Sasuke come home yet? What could he possibly still need to accomplish?

Suddenly in the middle of his thoughts Naruto felt the familiar blow in his mind of one of his shadow clones being destroyed. The memories of the clone revealed that Sasuke was in the midst of a battle with two assassins; in the opposite direction he himself had been headed.

"Great, now I have to go all the way back! And of course you'd do the unexpected and head in the direction of Konoha!" Naruto exclaimed, heading towards the fighting ninjas.

-O-

Sasuke hadn't expected the other two assassins to be such strong opponents. The first had abilities close to those of an opponent he had faced in the Chuunin exam preliminaries three years ago.

The assassin had the ability to suck his enemy's chakra right out of him. The difference from the abilities of Kabuto's teammate and this guy being that any blow from this assassin; hand foot leg arm anything; could get your chakra sucked dry.

The other assassin had an ability Sasuke didn't even think was possible. This guy could actually use a ninjutsu to look into your memories and then use a powerful genjutsu to twist the memories and make you relive them in the worst possible way.

So that's what Naruto's clone saw when it popped onto the scene. The first assassin had almost completely sapped Sasuke's strength away while the second had been in the middle of performing the genjutsu that would send Sasuke into his worst nightmares.

The second assassin, temporarily distracted from his work, was forced to stop in the middle of his jutsu to destroy the shadow clone runt that was attacking him. The jutsu was not completed but Sasuke was still trapped in the dream's clutches with no chance of escape.

"Now that's the end of that, let's take him to Danzo," said the first assassin, picking up the unconscious Uchiha and heading in the direction of Konoha.

-O-

Sasuke had his arms around his older brother's neck, being carried piggyback style back to the two Uchiha's house. Suddenly the older Uchiha veered off to the left, going in the opposite direction of their home.

"Where are we going Itachi?" asked a six-year-old Sasuke looking around at an unfamiliar part of the Uchiha District.

"We're going to go find my best friend so that I can murder him to obtain the Mangekyo Sharingan," Itachi replied looking at his younger brother with a demonic look in his eye.

"What?" Sasuke squeaked, squirming as his brother tightened his hold painfully on his legs.

"Yes and I'm doing it all for power. I'm going to kill my best friend and everyone else in our village just to obtain all the power I can get! Even mother and father!" he explained maniacally, dropping his stunned brother onto the ground.

"No, you can't!" yelled Sasuke standing and drawing a kunai knife from his pack.

"Too late little brother. Look around you, everyone's already dead," Itachi replied as Sasuke looked at the dead bodies surrounding him.

"Why?" Sasuke shrieked running towards his brother, kunai in hand.

"Your too weak little brother, you can never save mom and dad in time," Itachi stated disappearing from sight.

"No!" Sasuke yelled frantically, running towards his home as fast as he could. But it appeared as if every step he took he found himself further away from his house.

After what seemed like an eternity he finally made it to his home and ran inside, out of breath.

"There you are Sasuke. Dinner's ready. We've been waiting for you," his mother said, placing the freshly cooked dish onto the table.

"Yes, we've been waiting for you, Sasuke," repeated his father.

"Yeah, we've been waiting for you, little brother," Itachi repeated again from his place at the table.

"But I thought you were…" Sasuke started, but didn't finish because in the next instant darkness surrounded him and a flash of lightning struck outside, illuminating the small house. The flash hit just in time for Sasuke to see his brother finish off his mother and father with a blow from his katana, the blood spilling onto the floor.

"I told you, you couldn't save them," Itachi yelled, rushing forward and punching Sasuke in the stomach.

From the force of the blow Sasuke coughed up blood and collapsed onto the floor.

"Sasuke," hissed a familiar voice from behind him, "You will be my new body whether you like it or not!"

Sasuke suddenly felt himself being bound by slimy snakes that were trying to hold him in place. He struggled against them but was forced to look up at the man standing in front of him. The now 16-year-old Uchiha was looking into the cold snake-like eyes of his old teacher, Orochimaru.

"Well that's too bad. Because I'm not giving you this body of mine," Sasuke replied, his sharingan reappearing in his eyes.

"And how do you plan to stop me?" Orochimaru asked, staring straight into Sasuke's eyes.

And just like back in the Forest of Death, Sasuke witnessed his own death. He was immediately petrified by fear; unable to move after the image of a kunai knife piercing his forehead ran through his mind. Without hesitation, Orochimaru proceeded with the ritual that would make Sasuke's body, his own. And Sasuke had no way to stop him.

Suddenly the images of the Snake Sannin's ritual faded away to reveal a different part of the Uchiha District. His brother was sitting in a chair before him, a smirk on his face.

"Do you really think you can destroy me, little brother? You don't have enough power or enough hate. You'll never defeat me." With that he rushed forward and ran Sasuke through with his katana.

And these are just a few of the horrific dreams the young Uchiha had to witness while being trapped in this assassin's genjutsu. Danzo had told them he wanted Sasuke alive, which was all he cared about. They could do anything they wanted to the young boy's mind. If Sasuke went insane it would be all the better for him. As long as the young Uchiha eventually died at his hands, it didn't matter.

-O-

"_Just shut up for once! What the hell do you know about it? It's not like you ever had a family in the first place! You were on your own right from the beginning, what makes you think you know anything about it? Huh? I'm suffering now because I had those ties, how on earth could you possibly understand, what it feels like to lose all that?"–Sasuke Uchiha_

**End of Chapter**

**Hey, it's Midnight'ssong22 here again. I thank the one person who's reviewed so far for their critique. It really helped me with making this chapter better. I hope you guys like my story so far, so please review and tell me what you think! Pretty Please? Thanks!**


	4. Waking

**Chapter 4: Waking**

"_It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up." –Vince Lombardi_

-O-

Naruto woke up with no idea of where he was or what had happened. All he could remember was that he had been heading in the direction of where his clone had been destroyed when he'd suddenly felt an excruciating pain in his head and fell unconscious. His head was still throbbing and he had a major headache.

Looking around he realized that he was still in the forest but it had seemed quite a few hours had passed since he was last awake. His eight other clones had been destroyed as soon as he'd lost consciousness.

'_I hope Sasuke didn't get himself killed by those guys,'_ he thought solemnly, remembering what he'd seen when his clone had barged in on the battle.

**Flashback**

_Sasuke was being restrained, one assassin on top of him; the man's hands and feet glowing with chakra. The other man had one hand on Sasuke's forehead while the other hand was making hand signs to some kind of Jutsu. Sasuke was struggling feebly but it seemed he'd lost all strength_.

_The clone Naruto immediately attacked the assassin who was performing the jutsu, hoping to stop whatever he was planning._

_The assassin, forced to stop in his work, destroyed the oncoming shadow clone with ease but the Jutsu, whatever it was, had been stopped._

**End of Flashback**

Right after, he himself had tried to find the place where his clone had been destroyed when he'd suddenly felt a heavy blow to his temple. The blow had obviously come with the intent to kill him.

"It's amazing that it didn't kill me, but I guess that the nine-tails had something to do with that."

With that, Naruto forced himself to stand, ignoring the dizziness that overcame him and jumped into the trees, hoping to catch up with the idiot in time.

-O-

After packing up their things, Kakashi and Sakura, accompanied by Yamato and Hinata, set out to look for the missing blonde. Sai, who was originally supposed to join the team, had to back out at the last second due to contradictory orders from Danzo. Hinata, who had heard of the three ninja's dilemma, volunteered to help join the search.

Now, the four ninja were searching diligently for their loudmouthed friend down the road towards the small village.

Upon entering the town they immediately went about asking if anyone had seen the missing ninja. When they went to the chief medical ninja for information she told them that the blonde in question had left a few days ago, stating that he wanted to get home as fast as possible.

"I'm sorry, but I haven't seen him since. I hope you find him, he's a very nice young man," she said reentering the house and leaving the four dejected ninja on the porch.

"What should we do now?" asked a worried Hinata, "No one seems to know anything about him!"

"I do! I know about that guy your talking about!" yelled a little girl running up to them. She was wearing a cute pink dress and had short brown hair and looked to be about 5-years old. She was clutching a giant teddy bear.

"Are you sure about that, little one?" asked Kakashi skeptically, giving the girl a smile behind his mask so as not to scare her off.

"Uh-huh. He had short blonde hair and was dressed all in orange. He had lines on his face like whiskers and he was dressed like a ninja. That's him right?" she asked sweetly, giving the four a smile.

"Yes, that's him. Where did you see him?" asked Yamato, kneeling down to the girl's height.

"Sorry, I can't talk to strangers," the little girl exclaimed, turning on her heels and running down the street laughing.

"Come back here you little brat!" yelled a now very pissed Sakura, running after the girl. The other three ninja, not knowing what to do, followed the pursuit.

"Mommy! Mommy! These strange people are following me!" the girl yelled, jumping into her mother's arms and dropping her overstuffed bear.

"Who are you and what do you want with my daughter?" the mother asked quietly, clutching her daughter as the four came running towards them.

"I'm sorry. She just said she'd seen a friend of mine," Sakura replied calmly, regaining her composure, "He's blonde, wears a lot of orange, and he's really loudmouthed."

"Yeah we've seen him, what about him?" asked a man coming from out of the inn.

"He's been missing from our village for over four days now. We'd really appreciate it if you could tell us when and where you saw him," replied Kakashi, stepping forward to stand next to Sakura.

"I understand. Allow me to explain," said the father, recounting how they'd been running from a demon when the boy had asked what was wrong.

"He asked us what the demon looked like but when we tried to explain it to him he just took off!"

"And what _did_ this demon look like, may I ask?" questioned Yamato, wondering what on earth could have made Naruto react so foolishly.

"That's an easy one! He had black hair, red and black eyes, and was wearing a white shirt and bluish black pants… Oh, and he was covered in blood," said the small girl, watching their reactions, "What?"

But the four didn't respond, all stunned by this new information. Kakashi was the first to recover and said:

"Is this the exact description?"

"Yes."

"Can you please take us to the place where you saw him?" Yamato asked, "Or at least give us directions?"

"I can take you, as long as you protect me from that demon," the man replied.

"We will, we are very grateful for your help," Yamato said.

So with that the four, directed by the man, were led back down the path to the place where 'the demon' had been spotted. Now that they weren't traveling in the trees, they spotted faint bloodstains in the dirt.

Upon arriving at the spot the ninja gasped in horror at what they found. Although almost five days had passed since the owner of the wounds had left, the blood was still there, plain as day.

"No one could of survived this much blood loss," Sakura stated, "The probability of them actually pulling through would be miniscule."

"Look! A small break in the trees!" exclaimed Hinata running towards the small man-made path, "Ahh!"

Suddenly a hand shot out of the dirt in front of her and grabbed her, forcing her to the ground.

Sakura rushed forward to help the Hyuga when she was abruptly dragged to the ground herself by another hand. She struggled against it using her chakra-induced strength but everyone heard the sickening crack as the hands broke her ankle.

Sakura cried out in pain, clutching at her now broken ankle.

"Sakura!" Hinata yelled, standing to run over to her friend.

Now the underground hands were reaching out for the two jounin and their guide.

"I've had enough of this! Earth style: Fanged Pursuit Jutsu!" Kakashi yelled pulling out a summoning scroll. He bit his finger and drew some blood and added it to his jutsu. Finally he slammed the scroll onto the ground and the summoning was complete.

A few seconds passed and the hands disappeared from sight and in their place you could hear blood-curdling screams and barking from underneath the ground.

Suddenly, one of the dogs popped out of the earth and ran towards Kakashi.

"What did you find Pakkun?"

"There were five ninja total. One remains and were bringing him up to you for interrogation," Pakkun replied as five other dogs came out of the ground, a man dressed all in black was in their grasp.

"Your not gonna make me talk!" the man yelled, struggling to get out of the dogs teeth.

"Well that's all in a matter of opinion," Kakashi replied revealing his sharingan and placing the man in a genjutsu, "Now, who were you sent to kill?"

"I was sent to assassinate Sasuke Uchiha and anyone else who tries to help him," the man replies absentmindedly, trapped in Kakashi's jutsu.

"Where is Sasuke?"

"No one knows his exact location but was said to be seen at this spot."

"Yamato. Hinata. I want you two to escort our guide back to the village. Sakura and I will finish up here, okay?"

"But…" Hinata started but Kakashi interrupted saying:

"We'll meet you back here in twenty minutes and then we'll proceed."

"Right," Yamato replied, dragging Hinata and their guide back in the direction of the village.

"Now, where was I?" Kakashi mumbled, taking a step towards the hostage, "You have a lot of explaining to do."

-O-

Sakura had never heard a man scream so loud in her life, and Kakashi wasn't even using physical pain to draw out the man's information!

While Kakashi finished up his interrogation, Sakura started the painful process of repairing her broken ankle. The actual procedure wasn't difficult and wasn't very painful… if you worked slowly.

But Sakura didn't have time to go slow.

So, gritting her teeth, she put her chakra-infused hands on her foot and forced the bone back in place. Even Kakashi, who was a good ten feet away, could hear the loud crack of her bones snapping together. Suppressing a scream, she continued repairing the bone until her foot was all healed.

Kakashi, who by then had finished with the interrogation, went over and sat down next to Sakura on the ground.

"You going to be alright Sakura?" he asked genuinely worried.

"Yeah, I should be fine. Just give me a couple minutes okay," She replied, breathing heavily.

Kakashi stared at his former student as she recovered from the pain and exertion.

'_She's definitely not the weak little kunoichi she used to be. Tsunade has taught her well. For her to be able to repair a broken ankle in two minutes and not even utter a sound. It's amazing,'_ he thought as he watched her try to stand. He put a hand on her shoulder and forced her to sit down. Even though she's stronger she shouldn't push herself too hard.

"Kakashi?" she asked sitting down again.

"Yes Sakura?"

"It was Sasuke?"

"Yes. Not only was that assassin sent after him but also there _was_ a rumor going around in town that he'd been spotted nearby," he replied, watching her reaction.

"Yeah I heard them too, from the nurses at the hospital. Someone said a patient that had been in critical condition due to sword wounds had whispered something that sounded like 'Uchiha' before he died. The thing is, is that no one knows for sure who the man was. He was defiantly a ninja from our village but no one recognized him!"

"He must have been an underling of Danzo or an enemy spy. Either way, whoever they were sent by, they're after Sasuke."

"Kakashi… not even Sasuke could have survived those wounds. He's most likely dead by now. Only immediate treatment could of saved him…" Sakura whispered, accidentally allowing a tear to fall from her jade eyes.

"Sakura, don't forget that Naruto might of met up with him here. But knowing Naruto's medical skills he probably did more harm then good…" Kakashi said sarcastically, drawing out a small smile from his former student.

"Yeah, knowing him, he probably managed to stop the bleeding and get the wounds disinfected and all that. But then he probably fed him some kind of poisonous plant!" Sakura replied smirking.

"And then Naruto would proceed in asking forgiveness a million times but telling Sasuke it was his fault in the first place," added Kakashi.

"Then Sasuke would reply in calling him dobe, loser, idiot, or all of the above!" Sakura finished, laughing.

Kakashi smirked behind his mask, glad he'd put a little hope and happiness into his student, but even he wondered if the young Uchiha was still alive. At that thought, he turned his face away and frowned, analyzing the situation at hand.

By the information gathered by the interrogation, it seemed as if the assassin had been sent to murder Sasuke, but whoever had sent him had not expected the man to actually win. It's possible that what the mastermind really wanted was for Sasuke to be taken prisoner after being weakened by the first wave of assassins.

And if that_ were_ true it would be safe to assume that this is the work of:

"Danzo," Kakashi mumbled, his eyes narrowing.

-O-

"Your new mission: Accompany Chihiro to meet two other subordinates who are bringing a prisoner to me," Danzo said, watching the pale, black-haired boy at his feet.

"Of course," Sai replied lifting his head, "but who is their prisoner?"

"Sasuke Uchiha."

Sai's eyes widened slightly but he hid it from his master before replying:

"Your sending me on this assignment even though I failed on a similar mission before, at the Tenchi Bridge?"

"Your unique abilities will be of great use on this mission and your loyalty has never failed before. However, my trust in you has slightly slackened, which is why I'm sending Chihiro with you on this mission," Danzo answered.

At this, the young red-haired kunoichi entered, sporting her oversized sword in hand. Chihiro wasn't new to the foundation but she wasn't a frequent visitor either. She was only a little older then Sai and lived in the village, acting as a regular Chuunin under Tsunade. When in reality she worked for Danzo, telling him of the Hokage's every movement.

Her devotion to Danzo is almost creepy.

No one knows of their connection, but ever since she was at a young age, Chihiro practically worshiped the ground Danzo walked on. She completes every mission assigned to her and knows almost all of Danzo's secrets. If she was his enemy she would be deadly to him, but she would probably slit her own throat before giving Danzo away.

Sai turned to her as she bowed to Danzo beside him.

"I will help Sai to complete this mission no matter what Danzo-sama," she said sweetly, turning to Sai with a look that seemed to dare him to disagree.

"Good, then leave immediately and don't fail me. Dismissed!"

With that, the two ninja left Danzo and met outside the entrance of their master's headquarters.

"You better not even dare to fail this mission Sai! I swear if you do anything that goes against Danzo-sama I'll kill you right there!" Chihiro snarled, drawing out her blade.

From what Sai could remember, that blade had some very unique abilities. For one, although it is very large, it weighs practically nothing. Second of all it is sharpened to such a degree that even a slight stroke could kill. Last of all, it has the ability to sense sound waves and when put to the ear of the beholder, you can hear anything within one thousand feet. Hence her ability to spy on the Hokage's secret meetings so easily.

"What are you talking about Chihiro? I would never betray Danzo," Sai replied steadily, one hand on his scrolls just in case.

"I just don't think Danzo-_sama _should trust you again so easily," she answered pulling out a packet, "Here's the details of the mission. Don't fail Danzo-sama again!"

After handing the packet over she stalked off, pushing past any unlucky person who happened to be in her path.

Sai flinched. There were only a few things that cut so deeply into his soul that they actually made him afraid.

One is Danzo's wrath if you did something wrong. If you fail a mission, you will get severe consequences. Sai was lucky to get off with just a warning after his failed attempt of killing Sasuke at the Tenchi Bridge. That's one of the perks of being one of Danzo's favorites.

On the thought of the Tenchi Bridge, his second fear is of Sasuke's Sharingan eyes. He'd never felt such emotion before but he immediately recognized from his reading that it was fear of death. And yet all Sasuke did to him was look him in the eye!

His third and final fear: Chihiro's rage.

Sai flinched again as he remembered the time Chihiro got so angry at one of her teammates that she cut off his hand in one slice. It took hours for the medics to stop the bleeding and the poor guy had to go to therapy for months.

Shaking his head Sai took out the papers in the file Chihiro had given him. Skimming through the files he realized that multitudes of assassins had been sent after Sasuke and up until now, none of them had survived.

"All the ninja Danzo sent in the beginning were low-class Chuunin… but now he's sending Jounin like Hiroki and Taro? Why use such tactics?" Sai mumbled meandering in the direction of his apartment.

Looking through the casualty list, Sai recognized a couple names of people he used to train with and his eyes narrowed. He couldn't recognize the feeling that was coursing through his veins but he could guess it was anger.

Danzo had sent those Chuunin even though he knew they'd have no chance!

Reaching the door of his abode, he wondered if Danzo was really the man he wanted to work for…

'_What am I thinking? If Chihiro heard me say that I'd be dead… Naruto, what would you do in this situation?'_ he thought.

-O-

'_I'm scared. So scared! The darkness, it's swirling around me. When will the pain stop? Am I going to die? Make the images stop! They're driving me insane!_

_**My clan's massacre, my parent's deaths, Orochimaru, Itachi's death… **_

_The sources of my pain! And they just won't stop!_

_**Kakashi's death, Team Hebi's deaths, Sakura's death… My death!**_

_No! Not until I get my revenge!_

_**Konoha's destruction, Kabuto's experimentations, Naruto's death…**_

_Stop! I don't want anymore! Forget it… I want to die! I can't bear it anymore! Kill me! I want to…_

"Hey kid, you're not hurt are you?"

_The images… they've stopped…_

"**Scaredy cat!**"

_Huh? N-Naruto?_

"Standing there frozen like a frightened rabbit! No way! Your not the Sasuke I know!"

_But…_

"Surrendering? When did Sasuke become such a coward?"

_No! I'm no coward! I'll show you, you loser! All right, I'm done with this! Break this stupid genjutsu right NOW!_

Sasuke's eyes flickered open, the powerful genjutsu finally broken. Which was amazing considering the fact that it had never been broken before then.

But too bad for Sasuke that he'd picked the most terrible moment in the history of moments to wake up. Because unfortunately, the two assassins had just decided to camp out for the night and had just set him down. His eyes opened right when they were looking at him and before he could take in his surroundings he was punched in the face by one of his captors. Once again subdued to the darkness…

-O-

"_Sasuke, calm down. I'll protect you with my life, all of you. I will not allow my comrades to die. Trust me." –Kakashi Hatake (When battling Zabuza)_

**End of Chapter**

Me: Hey! I hope you liked this chapter!

Sasuke: I didn't... I was unconcious the whole time! And you knocked me out at the very end!

Me: I'm sorry. Here's a tomato. I got it for you since it's Valentines day and I was mean to you. Enjoy!

Sasuke: ...Hn

Me: Stupid nonexistent word! So anyways... Please review! And thanks for reading this far! :D


	5. Change

**Chapter 5: Change**

**A/N: Instead of a quote here, I'm putting a quick author's note instead. I'm going to go ahead and apologize for not uploading this sooner and hope that you don't hate me. So, gomen (sorry)! Now about this chapter: There are a few points in this chapter where it switches to different viewpoints in the story. So something will happen in one persons point of view then switch to someone else and the same thing will happen but with their thoughts on it instead.**

**That's all, so please enjoy this chapter of Tears of Blood! :)**

-O-

The first thing Sasuke saw when he woke up were the stars. He could easily pick out the constellations Itachi had taught him one night when he was younger.

The Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, Leo the Lion…

The first thing he heard was the crackle of a fire and the steady breathing of his captors. He could smell the food that had been cooked over said fire and felt his stomach rumble quietly.

His hands and feet were bound tightly and he was tied to a big oak tree. He couldn't create hand signs let alone move his fingers at all.

His captors were sitting in front of him; one of them asleep while the other was keeping watch over the fire. Although, it seemed he had not yet noticed that Sasuke had awoken.

Sasuke mentally kicked himself for what he'd done. It was such a Naruto move! To open his eyes wide open while knowing full well that he'd just been under an enemy's genjutsu. If he'd just kept his eyes shut and waited a little bit longer he could have taken them by surprise!

'_And now that I'm finally awake, there's no way out of this!' _he thought bitterly while calculating his options.

The ropes were bound so tightly to his hands and feet that he couldn't feel them. The ropes binding him to the tree covered his abdomen and chest, and the assassins had stripped him of his weapons.

The only way out of this would be to use his Amaterasu… But how?

If he aimed at the ropes he would burn with them. He could always put out the flames before they got to him but with what little chakra and strength he would have left after putting them out wouldn't be enough to fight two trained assassins.

And if he aimed for one of the assassins the other would still be alive and ready to subdue him. Even if the fire spread and killed both of them he would still be bound to the stupid tree!

'_I'll just have to wait until we start moving again,'_ he groaned inwardly, looking back to the sky.

At that moment, a shooting star passed the sky. He blinked; he hadn't seen a shooting star in a long time. If he didn't know any better, he didn't think he'd seen one since a mission he'd been on with team seven, three years ago. Back then his one wish had been to destroy Itachi.

'_Now I just wish he was still alive,' _he thought bitterly as the star crossed his field of vision, _'my new wish though is to finally avenge my parents… and my brother. By killing the ones who took them away from me.'_

-O-

Hinata and Yamato, after dropping off their guide, quickly returned to the path where Kakashi and the now-healed Sakura were waiting for them. From there, Pakkun, who followed the scent of Sasuke's blood and Naruto's unique chakra, guided the four ninja.

By nightfall they had found the remnants of the small camp the two had abandoned a couple days earlier.

"They were traveling together by this point," Yamato said pointing out the remains of a canister of the blonde's signature ramen and some bloody bandages.

"Yup, this is definitely Sasuke's blood," Pakkun replied giving the bandages a sniff.

"But where are they now?" Sakura asked picking up some of the discarded items.

"I'm guessing by the state of this place, that they left in a hurry," Kakashi replied.

Lifting his nose to the sky, Pakkun sniffed repeatedly, searching for the scent of the two missing ninja.

"I got it," he said after a while, "Sasuke's scent is about 5 miles northeast toward the direction of the village with two unknown scents. Naruto is in the exact opposite direction but his scent is getting stronger so I'm guessing he's heading in the same direction as Sasuke and coming toward us now."

"Good job Pakkun. Hinata, you stay here and meet Naruto. Sakura, Yamato and I will pursue Sasuke. Pakkun, you stay here with Hinata and make sure Naruto doesn't change directions on you two. Got it?" Kakashi asked, looking at each of his teammates.

"Got it!" they replied in unison.

-O-

Naruto was just about to take a quick break from his pursuit when he felt the familiar chakra of the heiress, Hinata Hyuga.

'_What's she doing here?'_ He thought surprised, heading in the girl's direction. The closer he got he realized he could also sense his sensei's summoned dog, Pakkun, as well.

Breaking through the trees he finally caught sight of them, standing at the sight of where Sasuke and himself had been staying a few days earlier.

"Hinata!" he called out to her.

"N-naruto! Your o-okay?" she stuttered back as he landed in front of her.

"Yeah I'm fine, but what are you doing here?"

"Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, Yamato, and I were sent to come find you. You-you've been missing for days now."

"Really? I didn't notice the time go by... So where are the others?" He asked looking around briefly before focusing back on the girl in front of him.

"Th-they went after Sasuke."

"Then let's go after them!" He replied jumping into the trees without a second thought.

"W-wait! N-naruto!" she called, jumping into the trees behind him.

"Hyperactive kid," Pakkun mumbled, running after them on his stubby legs.

-O-

Sai had never gotten along with Chihiro. And it wasn't just the 'you do anything wrong, I'll kill you' attitude either.

He never particularly cared for her presence. It gave him what he believed was an uneasy feeling.

Now, as they were traveling together to pick up the captive Sasuke, he realized that he completely loathed the girl beside him. Not only did she have a quick temper but her constant ramblings about how great Danzo was were getting on his nerves.

"You know Sai, Danzo is the strongest ninja in the village, and once he becomes Hokage everything will be better."

Sai just nodded his head, wishing for a pair of earplugs.

"Why are you so quiet? It's really annoying if you just don't say anything for the entire mission!"

"I'd rather leave you to your worshiping of Danzo, alone," Sai replied, quickening his pace through the trees so that he was now ahead of the red-head.

"What was that?" she yelled, brandishing her sword in Sai's direction.

But Sai ignored her, continuing forward without looking back at her. Chihiro growled under her breath but sheathed her sword and followed, finally keeping her thoughts to herself.

By nightfall, they started to finally feel the presence of the two Jounin that had captured Sasuke, and quickly made their way towards the small camp.

Right before they entered, Sai accidently dropped his scrolls and Chihiro went on ahead to talk to Hiroki and Taro.

"Is he unconscious?" she asked the two, looking over at the young, raven-haired man strapped to the tree.

"Yes," they replied.

"Good, let's set out now to take him to Danzo."

"But we just set up camp for the night," Hiroki said.

"Oh well!" Chihiro snapped, "We're taking the boy to Danzo now! So pick up your things and let's go!"

Hiroki and Taro immediately set to work picking up the camp. As soon as they had everything packed they finally walked over to the unconscious boy.

But they quickly found out he wasn't quite unconscious anymore, when they were suddenly hit by the powerful genjutsu that trapped them in a living hell.

-O-

Sasuke had heard the small creatures running toward him, before he saw them. They had appeared right before the new ninja had walked on the scene. He didn't know who sent the small creatures but he could tell by the way their teeth were gnawing at the ropes binding him that they were sent to help. He turned his head slightly to the creature closest to him and watched it as it worked.

It was a small mouse-like creature, but it was white and had black swirls instead of fur. He'd seen these kinds of animals before.

Back at Orochimaru's hideout, the hideout had been infiltrated by Naruto and Sakura's new team. One of the teammates had been a user of beast mimicry, drawing up creatures to bring to life.

Those same creatures were here now.

"Oh well!" he heard the woman snap, "We're taking the boy to Danzo now! So pick up your things and let's go!"

He heard more rustling as the two other ninja set to work while the creatures biting at his ropes finally undid the bindings, leaving him free to do his work.

The hand signs came easily and when the two came over to untie him, he opened his eyes, locking them into a genjutsu before they knew what hit them.

They both fell to the ground, unable to move. Sasuke jumped to his feet, grabbing the nearest weapon he could find and turned to face the red-head.

He watched the girl as she jumped forward, pulling a giant sword from the sheath on her back. He was surprised at the speed that she was able to move while wielding such an enormous blade.

Sasuke brought up the kunai he had taken and blocked the incoming attack, but he quickly realized the strength of the blade when the kunai was almost sliced in half by the sword.

Sasuke jumped back, dropping the useless kunai and barely missing the second attack thrown at him.

Without missing a beat, the redhead came in with a third attack and Sasuke dodged but felt the attack cut across his face, creating a thin cut across his cheek.

"Sai! Grab him!" she yelled as said male stepped through the trees. Sai took out his scrolls and created three snakes that made their way toward Sasuke. But instead of tying him up they passed right by him and bound Chihiro instead.

One of the snakes crawled up her arm and squeezed it tight until she dropped her sword.

"Sai!" she yelled, struggling at her bindings, "What's the meaning of this?"

"I don't believe that you would understand, but I don't want to work for Danzo anymore," he replied simply.

"What?"

"Quite frankly, I'd be happy if Sasuke were the one to kill Danzo," Sai said, giving his signature fake smile to the struggling girl. The snakes then did their work, knocking the red-head unconscious.

"Why are you helping me? Aren't you one of Danzo's subordinates?" Sasuke asked, activating his sharingan.

"As I just told Chihiro, I have no liberty to Danzo. I want to learn the ninja way that Naruto has created for himself. And I want to learn the full extent of the bond you share with him."

"That's foolish," Sasuke replied, "Betraying your master to learn such things as a bond and a nindo. Those are things I left behind a long time ago."

"Foolish?" Sai asked staring straight into Sasuke's eyes, "Then what about Naruto?"

"What about him?"

"He's grown a lot stronger by the path he's chosen. Driven by his nindo and by the bond you share. Without these things, I doubt he'd even be half as strong as he is now. I mean, he was even able to succeed in creating a jutsu not even the fourth Hokage could create. And his one thought while creating it was that with that jutsu, he could bring you back to Konoha."

Sasuke stood quietly for a minute, thinking about what the other ninja said. He found himself halfway impressed by the fact that Naruto had created such a seemingly powerful jutsu. But he was also troubled by what the other said.

Sasuke himself had sided with Konoha's enemies and had grown at least ten times stronger, yet Naruto still seemed to be equal in strength with him. And Naruto had stayed at the village, driven by this bond that Sasuke had thought he had broken three years ago at Final Valley.

Sasuke looked back up to Sai but instead of replying he gave his signature 'Hn' and turned to leave.

"Sasuke," a familiar voice sounded quietly behind him.

"Hello, Kakashi," Sasuke replied without turning around.

He heard two more pairs of feet land on the ground behind him and a soft intake of breath from the female of the group.

"Hello Sakura."

Sasuke then turned slowly to face his old teammates. He first took in his old teacher. If he didn't know better he would say no time had passed since he'd last seen him at the Konoha Hospital when he had broken up Naruto and his fight.

Sasuke then looked to the man named Yamato. He was the one who had accompanied Sakura, Naruto, and Sai to Orochimaru's hideout. He also looked back to Sai, the boy who was his replacement in team seven. He had to admit though; they did look kind of similar, with the black hair and eyes.

Then Sasuke finally allowed his eyes to travel over to the pink-haired kunoichi he had left on that bench three years ago. She had grown considerably since then. She was definitely not the same girl he left behind.

He may have only just seen her a few months ago at the hideout, but not this close. Her hair was styled differently then back then but it was still cut short like how it was back at the forest of death. She had grown quite a few inches taller but was still considerably shorter then he was.

He smirked inwardly. By her gasp, he could tell she still held feelings for him. He half expected her to come over to him and cry and hug him.

And this thought was why he did not expect what happened next.

"Sasuke," Sakura said with no emotion, taking a few steps forward.

Soon she was standing in front of him, her eyes covered in shadow. Sasuke looked down, trying to catch her eye but in the next second he found himself lying on the ground a few feet away, blood dripping from his mouth from the impact of the punch she had thrown at him.

He reached up with his hand and wiped away the blood, and also felt the already developing bruise on his cheek.

He stood up slowly, keeping an eye on the kunoichi to make sure she didn't try that again, and then said in a calm voice, "I suppose I deserved that."

"You think?" she growled angrily, stepping forward with chakra growing in her fists.

Sakura had changed a lot more then he thought.

'_Not only is she able to pack a punch but she also has chakra scalpels. And I made her angry… Great,' _He thought to himself, taking up a stance to defend himself with.

-O-

"Hello Sakura," Sasuke said, turning around to face them.

Sasuke looked from Kakashi to Yamato and Sai and then finally to Sakura.

She watched as his eyes traveled over her and she slowly felt anger rise in her. The same anger that rises every time she thinks of the day he knocked her out and left her on that god-forsaken bench.

"Sasuke," she replied.

Without realizing it, she made her way towards him, the anger rising all the time. She found herself suddenly in front of him, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

She watched him look down at her and she couldn't take it anymore. She drew back her fist and punched him as hard as she could without killing him, in the jaw.

He was knocked back by the blow and she was almost surprised that he hadn't seen it coming. But then again, he didn't seem to have a lot of chakra or energy at that moment. She looked at him, watching as blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth.

'_That felt good,' _she thought in satisfaction to herself as he stood up slowly in front of her.

"I suppose I deserved that," he said in that aloof tone of his and Sakura felt anger rise in her again.

"You think?" she practically yelled at him, stepping forward while creating chakra scalpels in her hands. Sasuke took up a defensive stance when he saw them.

"Enough, Sakura," Kakashi said from behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She turned to look at her old sensei and felt herself slowly calming down. She stepped back, allowing the scalpels to disappear, and settling on glaring in Sasuke's direction.

Sasuke relaxed and was about to speak again when the blonde haired idiot finally made it to the scene.

-O-

_"Even though we've changed and we're all finding our own place in the world, we all know that when the tears fall or the smile spreads across our face, we'll come to each other because no matter where this crazy world takes us, nothing will ever change so much to the point where we're not all still friends." –Anonymous_

As always, thank you for reading this chapter of tears of blood! :) Anyone else enjoy the part where Sakura punched Sasuke? Anyone? I sure did.

Anyways... Please review and tell me what you think! And hopefully I'll see you again in the next chapter. :)


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